Avengers AU: Awakening
by ladylokitk9
Summary: Norah Adelman has special abilities and a past that are shrouded in mystery and pain. Will joining the Avengers help her become the better person she longs to be? Or will it be yet another disaster. (The first few chapters will be short as I'm still working out some overarching details. Please review, I would love your input!)
1. Night Terrors & Second Chances

**Chapter One: Nightmares and Second Chances**

_She found herself walking down a dark corridor towards a grand door. She knew not what was behind it. There was a warm, soft glow emitting from the cracks. She noticed that everything was made of stone, but something wasn't right. The longer she stared at a single point, the more she noticed that everything was moving. It seemed to be a substance that mimicked lava and tar. Yet it was wet and deathly cold. A morbid hiss in the air. Her curiosity slowly become fright. She quickened her pace._

"_We're running a few experiments with something very special." The booming voice shook the whole structure._

"_Why me?" She yelled out._

"_You are unique. And I have a good feeling about you." The voice chilled her to the bone._

"_What if your wrong?" She was running as fast as she could towards the door, hoping it would lead to her escape._

_The voice chuckled "Then we will have to dispose of you."_

_She felt a dark presence behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks, unable to move, shaking in horror. She tried screaming as loud as she could. There was nothing but silence. She couldn't even hear her own heart beat, yet it was pounding at 100 miles per hour. She felt like someone was standing right next to her, right outside her ear._

"_We will make you the ultimate weapon." The voice hissed directly in her ear. She could feel its cold breath on her neck._

_She screamed and jolted for the door. It was becoming harder for her to run. She could barely pick her feet up. She pushed and pushed, but it seemed the floor was consuming her with each step she took._

"_There's no use running away Norah. You can't escape me!" The voice said with a power so strong it nearly knocked her down. Norah was almost to the door. The light that was once warm and gold had turned into a chilling blue light. She rocketed through the door, driven by her fear. There was a blinding light. She couldn't see anything. She could hear screams, gunfire, and the booming voice laughing and yelling. She was overcome by pain. It felt like a thousand electrified needles entered ever inch of her body. Her screams were drowned out by the others. The terror grew louder and louder until there was nothing but a high pitched ringing. She was writhing on the ground, trying her best to crawl away. The blinding light was slowly fading as she could make out the dark shapes of other beings. It was like walking through a thick white mist. The pain she was experiencing faded. She climbed to her feet and ran to what seemed to be a women. As she ran closer, she started to make out a face._

"_Help me!" the woman screamed._

_Norah ran toward her, reaching out to grab her hand. As soon as their fingertips touched the woman let out a deafening scream before disintegrating into a explosion of violet light._

_Norah fell down attempting to shield herself from the blast, got up and ran the opposite way. Another figure emerged, a man this time._

"_Help me!" He yelled. Norah reached out to him. Once she touched him he disintegrated just like the woman. Norah screamed, not knowing what was going on. She didn't know which way to run, but she ran anyway. She was soon surrounded by figures. Men, women, children, all yelling and screaming. But they weren't saying "Help me" they were yelling "Kill her!"_

_Norah ran around trying to find a way out of the crowd without touching anyone. The light was becoming brighter again. She could barely see the figures anymore. She stopped and collapsed on the ground sobbing. As she brought up her hands to burry her face, Norah noticed something odd. Her arms and hands were consumed in the violet light that killed that man and woman. She shot up to her feet in attempt to escape. But the light was covering her inch by inch. Soon she was shrouded in the violet light that was dancing around her like liquid fire. The voices were growing louder, the figures moving closer, panic taking over._

"_No no no no!" Norah yelled as she ran her fists into her head. "Leave me alone! I don't want to hurt you!"_

_The figures didn't listen. They kept walking towards her "Monster! Witch! Satan spawn!" Those were only a few words she could make out._

_Norah dropped to her knees, hugged herself and started rocking back and forth, sobbing hysterically. The pain of electrified needles came back. It was too much, it broke her and drove her over the edge. With one final blood curdling scream, she exploded with the light that eliminated everything in it's path like a nuclear bomb._

Norah fell out of her bed in a cold sweat. She couldn't tell if she was shaking or shivering. Her skin was glowing, but it quickly faded. She hung her head and quietly cried on the cold floor. This was the third time this week she had a night terror like this. She hated that she was becoming used to it. They were becoming more vivid and she didn't know why. She swallowed her feelings and took a deep breath. She made her her way to the bathroom and turned on the water. Once the water was warm she undressed and climbed into the shower. The hot water vanished her chills and had a calming effect. Her phone went off in the other room, but she ignored it.

Once the hot water ran out, she exited the shower, dried off and got dressed. She went about her morning routine in silence. She wish she had someone to talk to about her dreams. But she didn't have many friends. She kept to herself for fear of causing pain. The day went by without anything exciting happening. For Norah, this was a blessing. She sat at her desk working on her research. An alarm went off on her phone, it was 7pm. It disturbed her how quickly days went by for her. She got her notes together, put on her white leather jacket on and started to visualize the lab where she worked. She closed her eyes and focused on a hallway that wasn't traveled often. And with a sharp and swift _whoosh, _she teleported herself their.

Norah looked around to see if anyone had seen her. The coast was clear. She made her way to her lab so she could start her work. She didn't have much contact with any of the other researchers and scientists there. They all found her odd. Brilliant, but odd. She approached the door, entered the required code and stepped inside. Her lab assistant was already there.

"Hi there Dr. Adleman!" she said in a peppy voice.

"How many times do we have to go over this Cas? Just call me Norah." Cas was one of the few people Norah could tolerate day after day. She was the best lab assistant she ever had. Cas always seemed to brighten her day, though Norah would never tell her this. Norah had always been self-possessed and reserved, but people were quick to write her off as cold and distant. She knew this was a contributing factor of why she didn't have many friends. She was glad that Cas was able to see past all that and accept her for what she was.

"Are we going to try again today?" Cas asked, becoming very serious.

Norah thought for a moment and replied "No, not today. It's not a good time."

"Nightmares again?" Cas asked concerned.

Norah was quiet as she fiddled with her papers. "Yeah..."

"Are you okay?"

"I guess. They're getting worse. More vivid..." Norah was becoming unsettled "...I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay, sorry." Cas said quietly.

"Let's just focus on setting up all this new equipment and importing the data" Norah said as she sat down at her computer. It was provided by Stark Industries so needless to say it was the best you could get. Luckily for Norah her boss had a thing for her, so she received a bonus for equipment every time there was extra money in the budget. It also helped that a someone that wished to remain anonymous invested in her research. Even though she was extremely grateful, Norah couldn't help being a little suspicious since mostly everyone thought that half her ideas were crazy and impossible and the other half were classified and only 3 people had clearance besides herself. Cas, her boss Neil, and someone who she didn't know the identity of. That was something Norah was planning on changing soon. Since her research involved her abilities, she wanted to keep tabs on everyone who knew for two reasons: One, the fewer amount of people who knew about her the better. And the second reason was something Norah had a hard time accepting. If herself or someone that she knew was put into danger, she would have to take care of the threat.

Ten o'clock rolled around, there were footsteps in the hallway. It brought Norah to attention. Not a lot of people came around at this hour, and these were footsteps she didn't recognize. The doors to the lab opened and a man in a clean cut suit stepped in.

"Miss Norah Adelman?" He looked at her dead in the eye. His expression was serious, but pleasant.

"Yes? How can I help you..." Norah reached out to shake his hand.

"Agent Phil Coulson of the Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division." He said shaking her hand with a firm grip.

"Wow, what a mouthful." Norah said eying him inquisitively.

"You can call us S.H.I.E.L.D." Agent Coulson smiled.

She recognized the name. She had done some freelance work for them retrieving information a few years before. It was a successful mission, but she did have to take a few people out. She became uneasy.

"Okay, um, what is all this about?" Norah asked.

"There's been an incident at our base of operations..." Agent Coulson opened up the tablet he was holding and handed it to Norah. "This should clear a few things up."

Norah took the tablet and proceeded to grow through the information.

"What's this?" Norah asked looking at a picture of the Tesseract.

"That's the Tesseract. It was stolen from us earlier this evening."

It looked familiar to Norah, but she had no idea where or how she could've seen it.

"I'm sorry Agent Coulson, but how does all of this concern me?" Norah asked wanting to get to the point.

"We've been keeping an eye on you Ms. Adelman. We are in desperate need of someone with your..." he paused and took a deep breath. "...unique abilities."

Cas inhaled sharply, shot out of her chair, and looked at Norah.

Norah became very tense. "How do you know about that?" She asked.

"We're S.H.I.E.L.D. It's our business to know everything." Coulson replied. "And trust me when I say that we're not only approaching you because of you gift."

Norah scoffed

"We believe you will be able to help us in these next few weeks." Coulson continued.

Norah found herself believing him. "So you're here to ask me for my research?" She asked, still not quite clear of what was expected of her.

"I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."


	2. Homework in a Hellcarrier

**Chapter 2: Homework in a Hellcarrier **

Norah had spent all night memorizing all the information Coulson had given her. What she read about Bruce Banner made her heart sink. She had met him a few years previous at a convention. He was brilliant, mild mannered, and soft spoken. It was unfathomable that he could become the Hulk. Norah found herself easily able to empathize with him. People often thought the same about her. That she was quiet, gentle and polite. No one could ever think of her causing such carnage that she had in the past.

She scoffed and chuckled when she read Tony Stark's profile. She knew he was a real prick most of the time and had a ego to boot, but she couldn't deny that he had style

The profile of Captain America/Steve Rogers caught her eye. Her hand traced the edges of his picture. He was very handsome in a classic sort of way. He had very kind eyes, but they were sad. She read about the serum that had lead to his abilities and how he was in the ice for decades. She turned the page and saw that he fought against Hydra. Her face went white and her hands began to shake. She read his file over and over again in disbelief. Norah made a mental note to talk to him as soon as she could.

"_I may finally find out something."_ She thought.

Some S.H.I.E.L.D agents returned the next morning to collect her. Norah didn't have any idea of where they were taking her. She allowed the agents take her bags to the car.

"Careful with those please!" She said as an agent picked up her 2 swords.

"Are you ready?" One of the agents asked with a smile.

"I guess so." Norah said.

They got into a black car and went to and airport where they boarded a jet like she'd never seen before. Norah winced, she wasn't fond of flying. After about an hour they touched down on a Aircraft Carrier. Or so Norah thought. She stepped out and glanced around taking in her surroundings. Memorizing the layout. She noticed Bruce Banner in the distance looking rather lost. She walked up to him.

"Hi Dr. Banner. I don't know if you remember me but-" she said offering her hand.

"Dr. Adelman hi. Nice to see someone I know here. And please, just call me Bruce." He interjected while shaking her hand.

"Okay then, please just call me Norah." She replied.

There was silence as they both looked around more and hopping out of the way of busy workman.

"So I didn't know that, well, you know, you had something going on too." Bruce said awkwardly.

"Yeah I didn't know about you either." Norah replied.

"Did they say they only wanted you for research?" He asked.

"For the most part yes. I just hope they are telling the truth." Norah admitted.

"Yeah me too."

The two exchanged concerned looks.

Another jet had landed, she noticed that it was Coulson and the Captain. They were talking to a redheaded woman. Norah had seen her before.

"Careful, she's a bit severe." Bruce said quietly.

Norah laughed "Noted."

"Dr. Banner!" Captain yelled out catching both of their attentions.

Bruce walked up and shook his hand. Norah stood back, she couldn't make out their conversation that well.

"It must be weird for you. All of this." Bruce said as they started to walk towards her.

"Well, this is actually kinda familiar." Rogers replied.

The redheaded woman followed closely behind them.

"Captain this is Dr. Norah Adelman." Bruce said gesturing at Norah.

Captain Rogers was much more handsome in person. "Pleasure to meet you ma'm." He said shaking her hand.

"Oh, Captain my Captain." Norah said with a sultry grin. She could tell that she had made him uncomfortable. The woman and Bruce chuckled. "Please just call me Norah."

"I-uh, you can call me Steve because, um, that's my name." Steve wasn't used to women being so forward. And he definitely wasn't used to them flirting with him.

"You might wanna step inside in a minute. It's going to get a little hard to breathe." The woman said with a grin.

At that moment the boat shook underneath them and loud mechanical sounds filled the air.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

"Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container." Bruce asked.

Norah walked with them towards the edge and looked down. Giant propellers emerged from the water and they started to lift up as they spun faster and faster. All three of them took a few steps back. Norah felt like she would be sick as the whole structure rumbled.

"No, no, this is much worse." Bruce said sarcastically.

Norah nodded. They headed inside passing all the workman securing the equipment to the surface. They entered a hallway and followed the redhead.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name." Norah said to her.

"Name's Natasha." She replied not even bothering to look back at her.

"Well okay then." Norah said.

Bruce leaned forward and whispered "Told ya."

Norah chuckled and smiled.

They entered a giant control room where everyone was talking. Norah, Bruce, and Steve all looked around in wonder. Natasha looked over her shoulder and smiled at them. After memorizing the room Norah heard a very deep voice that could only be Nick Fury.

"Let's vanish." Fury said. He turned around and faced them. "Gentlemen..." he paused and looked at Norah. "...and lady."

Steve walked passed Fury handed him a ten dollar bill. Norah was curious what for, but she didn't ask. Fury walked up to Bruce and shook his hand. "Doc thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely." Bruce replied. "So uh, how long am I staying?" he looked uneasy.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." Fury replied. He seemed to be telling the truth. Norah sat down in one of the chairs and listened to the banter between Bruce and the crew. Natasha took Bruce to his laboratory. There was a moment of silence before Fury approached her.

"So what am I here for?" Norah asked. "You seem to have everything covered with Banner being here. I'm not sure why I'm needed."

Fury sighed.

Norah placed her arms on the table and leaned forward. "You said you needed me for my research."

"We do..." Fury said.

"So why do I get the feeling that's not the real reason you asked me here." Norah didn't break eye contact with him. Her look was stern, she didn't like to be jerked around.

"We needed insurance." Fury said lowering his voice.

"Insurance against what?" Norah asked sharply.

Fury looked around and leaned in. "Banner."

"Jesus Christ Fury." Norah scoffed as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"What did you expect us to do. We have a cage, but let's be honest, there's little chance we could get him in there in time if something does happen."

"And what do you expect me to do? Yes, I could take him out, but if I lose control while doing so, I'll take him out and everyone else on this...whatever the hell this thing is."

"Hellcarrier." Fury replied.

"Whatever." Norah snapped. She was quiet for a moment. "Okay, I'm going to stay. I'm going to help Bruce with finding the Tesseract and whatever else I need to do while I'm here." Norah stood up and got in Fury's face. "But if you lie to me again I'm out of here."

"Fair enough." Fury said solemnly.

Norah stormed off to find the lab. She found Bruce there already working. Norah took off her jacket and placed it on one of the counters.

"You okay?" Bruce asked looking up at her through his glasses.

"Um, yeah. I just don't like flying much."

"Still better than a sub." Bruce chuckled.

"Ha, yeah. You're right about that."

Norah and Bruce got to work finding the Tesseract. It was nice to finally be able to work with a colleague. They both bounced theories off of each other and discussed past research while working. While figuring out the exact type of gamma radiation the Tesseract gave off Bruce noticed something strange.

"Huh, that's weird." He said look at a screen.

"What is?" Norah asked walking over to him.

He pushed his glasses up with his thumb. "There is a small amount of gamma radiation on the ship."

Norah looked at the numbers on the screen.

"Wow, it's almost identical." Norah said peering at the screen. "Do you think the Tesseract was ever on board? If so, it could be residual."

"Maybe, but it's such a weak amount it would've dissipated within minutes." Bruce replied.

Just then someone dropped something in the hallway creating a loud bang.

Both Norah and Bruce were startled. Bruce then looked in awe at Norah.

"What?" She asked. Norah looked down and noticed her violet force fields dissipating around her arms. "Oh, um sorry. That happens sometimes." Norah said trying to brush it off.

Bruce walked over and picked up a radiation reader from the table and started twirling it around her.

"Bruce? What are you doing?"

He placed the reader down and started reading the results. "Norah..." his voice was quiet. "...I think it's you."

"Me? Why would I give off the same gamma radiation as the Tesseract?" She asked confused and slightly panicked.

"I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me that." Bruce said eyeing her.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Norah said.

"What exactly can you do?" He asked taking off his glasses.

Norah shifted her weight and looked at the floor. "I can teleport anywhere as long as I have a visual of the place. And I have, I guess what you can call force fields. But in all honesty, they're more complex than that."

"I see." Bruce said quietly. "When you say they are more complex, what exactly do you mean?"

Norah sighed. "I can control things with them."

Bruce just looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"It's easier if I just show you." Norah backed into the center of the room and the violet light that looked like dancing water consumed her hands. She reached out with the fields and picked up a tablet that was on the table. It floated in the air covered in the light. Norah took a deep breathe and closed her eyes. The tablet was dissembled, the different parts floating in the field.

"Oh wow." Bruce said moving closer to get a better look.

"And if I know how it works..." Norah said smiling. Bruce watched in wonder as the tablet reassembled. She placed it gently in his hand. He tested it and it worked.

Bruce laughed. "Now that is incredible."

"I'll say."

Norah turned around to see Steve standing in the doorway.

"Thanks guys." Norah said with a soft smile, but her eyes forlorn.

Bruce looked up at her and his smile faded. "That isn't it. Is it?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not." Norah replied.

Both Steve and Bruce looked at her in concern.

Norah picked up the tablet again with her hands and stepped away from Steve and Bruce. The violet fields were different. They didn't look like water anymore, they resembled flames. With a bright burst, the tablet was disintegrated.

Steve and Bruce jolted back.

Norah opened her eyes and looked at their reaction.

A chill went through both of their spines when they saw her pupils dilated so much that her eyes were practically black.

Norah took a few deep breaths and her eyes returned to normal. "Well?" She asked.

"I'm rather speechless to be honest." Steve said.

"What does that do to you?" Bruce asked as if he already knew the answer.

"Gives me a hell of a adrenaline rush. I'll tell ya that." Norah laughed nervously. She didn't fool Bruce for once second.

"What else?" He asked.

"If I use it for too long and on too large of scale, it tends to..." Norah looked down at her feet. "...take over."

"You mean you lose control of it." Steve said.

Norah looked up at him. "Yeah."

Bruce looked at her with sadness and understanding. "You've lost control before haven't you?"

Norah nodded. "It wasn't pretty."

Bruce inched towards her and place his hand on her shoulder. He gave her a empathetic look. Bruce and Norah made a very special connection at that moment. They understood each other's struggles, fears, and regrets.

Agent Coulson popped his head in. "Captain, you're needed in the bridge."

Steve excused himself and left. Norah and Bruce got back to work. After a while Fury came into the lab.

"Norah, we'll need you in a minute to escort the prisoner to his cell."

"Oh, you guys got him?" Norah said looking up for a moment.

"Yeah, with the help of Stark and Thor." Fury replied.

Norah's eyes grew wide as she looked up at Fury. "Thor? As in-"

"Yes, the God of Thunder himself." Fury said.

Norah became very excited. She had always loved Norse mythology ever since she could remember. Her code name was even inspired by it.

"You might want to suit up. You never know." Fury said as he left.

Norah went to her room where she found her suit that she had worn for past missions. It was an all full body leather suit that she wore with knee high combat boots. Much like what Natasha was wearing before she left. She zipped up the front to the middle of her sternum, and slung her twin swords into her back harness. She looked at herself in the mirror. It had been a while since she wore this. Everything she wore was white which contrasted with her long jet black hair. She unsheathed her swords and gripped them tightly. She got used to the weight in her hands once again. She took a deep breath. She was ready for anything.

The door to her room opened.

Agent Coulson leaned in. "Are you ready?" He asked.

Norah looked at him over her shoulder and smiled. She twirled her swords around before replacing them in their sheaths. She looked at Coulson and gave him a single nod.

Coulson smiled and put a finger on his earpiece. "It's time to fly in the Valkyrie."


	3. Loki

**Chapter 3: Loki**

Loki looked around the plane at his brother and the other men there. Seeing them all fight each other earlier was too good. He laughed internally at their stupidity. So far his plan to get to the Hellcarrier was working out perfectly. Even though he didn't count on Thor showing up, he doubted it would mess up his plan. He couldn't wait to see the look on his brother's face when he succeeded. The aircraft touched down, but the doors did not yet open.

"Excuse me? What are we waiting for?" Stark asked impatiently.

"It's time to fly the Valkyrie." Coulson's voice echoed over the radio.

"Roger that." Natasha said.

"Valkyrie?" Thor asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine bud." Stark said tapping his foot.

The doors opened to reveal a woman in white. Her stance was wide and her hands behind her back. She had long black hair and piercing blue eyes. Loki couldn't take his eyes off of her. She looked to have something strapped to her back, but he couldn't make out what they were from this distance and in the dark. The Captain was the first to get off the plane.

"Doctor." The Captain said to her.

"Captain." She replied with a nod.

"Ah Norah! I didn't know you were coming to the party. And I have to say, you are rocking that catsuit." Stark said as he walked over to her and patted her shoulder. "What's you angle? Do you bat your eyelashes and make your enemies swoon?"

She rolled her eyes "Not exactly." Her right hand lit up with what looked like violet fire. She touched the glowing spot on Stark's chest. A bright light and sparks were released and Stark fell to his knees with a grunt and a yell. She watched him struggle to get up with a smirk on her face. Loki couldn't help but smile. He enjoyed seeing her put Stark in his place. She looked up at Thor.

"So, judging by your hammer you must be Thor." She said.

"You were told of me?" Thor asked. Loki rolled his eyes.

"No, but I have a interest in Norse mythology." She replied. She turned her attention to Loki. She looked him straight in the eye and grinned. Her face was calm and confident. He didn't intimidate her in the slightest. He would've been annoyed if he wasn't so impressed with her.

"And you are?" She asked him.

"Loki." The Captain answered for him. Loki scowled at him before looking back at her.

"Ooooh, the God of Mischief himself." She said smiling.

Loki smirked at her.

"We need to get him to the detention area." The Captain informed her.

She had yet to break eye contact with him. He couldn't quite figure out her play yet.

"Aw, well that's too bad." She said.

"And why is that?" Loki asked.

"You always were my favorite of the Norse gods." She replied and winked at him.

Loki couldn't stop the grin overcoming his face.

She looked around at the others. "Shall we?"

Upon entering two rows of guards joined her in escorting him to the holding cell. There was a row to his left and his right and two behind him. Loki kept his eyes forward. He now had a good view as to what was on her back. He admired her twin swords. They looked old, but well made. The handles look to have pearl inlays of wings. He only took his eyes away from her as they passed by a laboratory. His eyes connected with Bruce Banner's, he did nothing but smile. They continued to a room with a circular cell made mostly of windows. Director Fury was standing next to a control panel, waiting. A door slid open. The guards waited in the hallway, it was only him, Fury, and Valkyrie. He started into the cell without struggle, but stopped in the doorway. He turned around and faced Valkyrie. Though he towered over her, she still showed no fear.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Aren't you going to walk me in?"

She rolled her eyes and grinned. Her hand became covered in the violet fire as she lifted her arm. Loki saw was she did to Stark and expected her to repeat her move. What happened next neither of them could've fore seen. As she placed her glowing hand on his chest to push him back, thousands of memories flashed before their eyes. She saw his and he saw hers, but that wasn't the end of it. They didn't just see the memories, they experienced them. Thousands of feelings and thoughts in a few seconds. It was too much for both of them. They fell back from one another and Fury was quick to close the door when Loki fell in. She fell to the ground her head throbbing. Loki recovered slightly quicker than she did.

"What did you do to me?" He asked her, practically yelling.

She struggled to her feet and looked at him, but not with fear. Her eyes were filled with sadness. She looked like she was pitying him.

"Norah? What was that?" Fury asked her, his hand on his gun holster.

"I wish I knew." She said.

Loki felt her inside his head. Flashes of her life kept popping up causing him to grimace. After a few moments he regained his composure, but he was livid. Her memories were horrid.

"Norah, why don't you give us a moment alone." Fury said calmly.

Norah didn't say a word, she backed away from the cell and only turned away when she got to the stairs. She hurried out of the room, the doors slamming behind her. Loki watched her leave.

"She sure is something isn't she?" Fury asked.

Loki said nothing.

"In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass..." the floor open up to reveal a sheer drop. "...it's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He gestured to Loki "Ant." he then gestured to the control panel. "Boot."

Loki chuckled. "It's an impressive cage. Not built I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury replied.

"Oh I've heard. The mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki said.

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steel a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did." Fury was in no gaming mood.

"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded of what real power is." Loki said.

Fury smirked. "Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or anything."

When Loki was alone he sat down on the bed in his cell. His head was pounding as more memories and feelings surfaced. He didn't expect so many memories from someone so young. There was more to her than meets the eye.

Norah walked down the hall holding her head. She was experiencing Loki's memories and feelings rushing through every fiber of her being. His recent experiences were more vivid. She went to her room to collect herself before joining everyone else on the bridge. The feelings of rage, resentment, heartache, and betrayal were overwhelming. She felt so sorry for him. She knew she couldn't condone his actions, but she understood how they were justifiable to him. She did her best to bury them and walked to the bridge. She came in mid conversation. She said nothing and sat down a chair over from Steve.

"You may want to start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it sure does work a lot like a Hydra weapon."

The mention of Hydra made Norah shutter.

"Well I don't know about that." Fury replied. "But it is powered by the cube What I do know is that he was able to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor said.

"I do! I uh, I understood that reference." Steve said proud of himself.

Norah chuckled and smiled at him. He looked over at her and smiled back.

Once the conversation was finished, everyone went to do their own thing. Steve started back to his room. Norah hurried after him.

"Steve! Hey can I talk to you?" She asked running up beside him.

"Yes of course. What do you need?" Steve asked slowly his pace so she could keep up.

"I need to talk to you about Hydra." Norah said.

"Hydra? Isn't that a little before your time?" Steve asked.

"Not exactly." Norah answered.

Steve stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her.

"Not exactly?" His face was inquisitive.

"Why don't we find a place to sit down and talk?" Norah suggested.

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Steve replied.

They were able to find a small meeting room with a few chairs around a small table.

"Okay Norah, what's up?" Steve asked.

"I need to know what you know about Hydra. During your raids did you find any records of their experiments?" Norah asked.

"Not many, they were really good at covering their tracks." Steve replied.

"What about the last Hydra base you raided? The one where you were able to take down...Red Skull?" She became nauseous saying his name.

"Norah, why do you need to know?" Steve asked.

She was quiet for a few minutes, she took a deep breath.

"I was taken by Hydra when I was younger. Johann Schmidt came to my house and threatened to kill my family if I didn't come with them. So I had to go." She explained.

Steve was quiet for a moment. "What did they do to you?"

Norah looked down at her hands. "They wanted to run experiments on me. He said they were testing something special. Something that would bring around a new, brighter future. And that they needed someone special like me in order to get the best results."

"What made you special to them?" Steve asked.

"That's what I need to find out Steve. About two weeks before you attacked that last Hydra base, I managed to escape and return to my family." She said.

"Well that's good." Steve said hopefully.

Norah looked at him, her eyes filling with tears.

"Steve's face dropped. "Not good?"

"No..." She said "...I don't want to go into the details, but my family didn't want me. Hydra came back for me and I lost control."

She didn't need to say more. He understood what that meant. Steve reached across the table and held her hand.

"Norah I'm so sorry." Steve said rubbing his thumb across the top of her hand. "Once all this stuff with Loki and the Tesseract is taken care of I swear I'll do whatever I can to help you find out about your past."

Norah smiled, a few tears falling from her eyes. "Thank you Steve, this means a lot to me."

"Hey, anything I can do to help a friend." He smiled warmly at her.

They left the meeting room to go to their personal rooms where they were stopped by Agent Coulson.

"Norah, Fury would like to talk to you."

"Okay, where is he?" She asked.

"On the bridge." Coulson replied.

"Okay. See you guys later." Norah said before teleporting to the bridge.

"That's going to take some getting used to." Coulson said.

"Ha, yeah." Steve agreed.

Norah appeared next to Fury, she must've been in his blind spot because when he turned he staggered backwards. "Jeez Norah! Give me a little warning."

"Sorry." Norah said "What do you need me for."

"I need you to watch Loki." Fury said.

"What? I thought I was supposed to help Bruce." She said trying to talk him out of his decision.

"Well since Stark is here, he has more than enough help." He replied.

"But what if something happens?" She added.

Fury looked at her. "Why don't you want to? Does it have anything to do with what happened earlier?"

"Honestly I don't even know what happened earlier. That's never happened before." Norah said.

"Do you think it's something to worry about?" Fury asked.

Norah took a moment to think about that question. "So far, no. I'll let you know if problems arise."

"Okay then." He gave her a nod.

Norah sighed and teleported to the containment room.

Loki jolted backward, surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Well you're just full of surprises aren't you?" He said smirking at her.

Norah said nothing, she dragged a chair to the corner, sat down, and propped her feet up on a railing. She pulled out a book and started reading.

"Did Fury send you her to keep an eye on me?" Loki asked determined to get her to talk to him.

"What do you think?" She said not looking up from her book.

"I think it's a bit redundant." Loki replied.

"Yeah well, you are the God of Mischief, so being redundant doesn't hurt." She still had not looked at him.

Loki paced around his cell for a few minutes. More of her memories played through inside his head. There was a man and several women screaming and attacking her. The fear and heartbreak she experienced almost brought him to his knees. It took everything in him to force it out of his mind. He groaned as he grew irritable.

"What did you do to me?" He asked.

She put down her book and shifted in her chair to look at him. "I don't know."

"You think you can deceive me?" Loki's voice boomed throughout the room. "Tell me what you did!"

She zapped over to him and got in his face. "I don't know!" She yelled back. "You think I want your memories inside my head? To feel the rage and betrayal that rushes through you constantly? It's like poison!"

Her words tore through him. He felt naked in front of her. He hated that she saw right through him. He wanted to cause her the uncomfortable feeling he was experiencing.

"I've seen the things that plague your mind. The guilt from all the death and destruction you've caused. Yet you think you belong here." He snapped.

"Who says I don't? Do you believe everyone here to be blameless? No, they are far from it. Unlike them I'm not going to pretend that I'm any better than you. If anything you are more innocent than I." She said. Her honesty took him off guard. Loki was quiet for a moment.

"If you are worse than I, why not join me instead fighting against me?" Loki purposed. "You would make a fine ally. If we worked together we could be an unstoppable force. We could rule Earth together, you and I." He placed his hands on her shoulders. His touch made her shy away.

"I'm sorry for what has happened to you and the pain you are dealing with. I truly am. To have your past kept secret from you only to find out you're a monster." She placed her hand on his cheek. Her touch was warm and gentle. Her eyes were void of judgement. "But you're not."

Loki could not believe the words that had just left her mouth. "What?"

"You're not a monster Loki. Quit making yourself out to be one." She removed her hand and exited the cell.

Loki was speechless. How could she not think that after everything he had done? She left him alone with his thoughts.


End file.
